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KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory

New grant for establishing a Swedish Citizen Science Lab for Urban Biodiversity

miljofondgrant
Published Sep 25, 2025

How can we work together with citizens, actors from the public sector, civil society organizations, academia and private sector to develop knowledge about citizen science and urban biodiversity? Sara Borgström at SEED with Katarina Larsen and Anja Rieser, from the Division of History, have received a grant to support the first steps towards a Swedish citizen science lab for urban biodiversity.

The call for funding was a collaboration between the KTH Climate Action Centre and the Engineers of Sweden, with funding from Stiftelsen Sveriges Ingejörs Miljöfond. Four research projects that contribute to climate mitigation or adaptation received funding, including the Swedish citizen science lab for urban biodiversity.

The project aims to establish an inter- and trans-disciplinary network of stakeholders that represent a diverse and advanced competence in urban biodiversity and citizen science in Sweden, as a first step towards a Swedish citizen science lab for urban biodiversity.

Biodiversity in cities is the foundation for functioning urban nature, that in turn can generate urban ecosystem services and nature-based solutions that mitigate urban environmental challenges, climate change impact and support urban residents physical and mental wellbeing. Despite the strong interlinkages between urbanization, biodiversity decline and climate change, the decision-making processes and formal policies concerning these three challenges are often dispersed between various sectors, hiding their interlinkages and hindering the potential responses to deal with the coupled challenges. There is also a severe lack of recognition and integration of civic society knowledge, engagement and practices in addressing these challenges, where local knowledge, including skills, resources and practices, is key to developing robust strategies to manage responses to consequences of climate change and biodiversity decline.

Some outcomes of the project include:  

  • Building stakeholder network and engagement by arranging two knowledge co-creation workshops 

  • Developing a concept and action plan for establishing a Swedish citizen science lab for urban biodiversity 

  • Building awareness of the interdependence of climate change, biodiversity decline and sustainable urban development among KTH employees and students  

  • Synergies with ongoing research on Urban biodiversity challenges and citizen science, funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, with scope for new research initiatives and projects 

Here you can read the news item from Stiftelsen Sveriges Ingenjörers Miljöfond  and the news item from the KTH Climate Action Centre 

Are you a student doing your thesis? The Miljöfond also grants engineering students who want to do their thesis work on environmental issues, the Call is open 1 October- 10 November 

The Research Projects

  • Joseph Mulligan & Rebecka Ericsdotter Engrström: Anticipatory Urban Climate Action: A scoping study for linking transdisciplinary research via Systemic Risk towards concerted action in climate mitigation and adaptation planning  

  • Göran Finnveden, Jens Ergon & Markus : Could taxing the rich advance climate action? Modelling the climate, social, and macroeconomic effects of policy packages including taxes on capital, wealth and high incomes  

  • Sara Borgström, Katarina Larsen, & Anja Rieser: Swedish Citizen Science Lab for Urban Biodiversity  

  • Ingrid Campo Ruiz & Emma Riese: Exploring and Visualizing How Climate Change and Poverty are Connected  

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